Sebastopol.....now a Muscovy too....gone

[chickensioux]

So sorry for your losses. I know when I have lost a few to hawks, you just feel helpless. I have done everything I can to prevent future losses but I am always on edge.

 

[feathersandfluff]

Now there is a ideal a camera. Where do your purchase them/How would you keep a bobcat out if that is what it is. Any ideals? It had eatten a little off of each of the two Sebastopols it killed and the third one was completely gone. Not even a feather.??????
As for the expense of a camera, I figure each Sebastopol that is killed is a loss of around $200. This is show quality breeding stock.
Besides that we have raised them from eggs and they are all like pets. Dorothy

 

[chickygirl2]

I understand your pain. We lost a beautiful 3 yo male peacock and 5 rare goslings this year from the darn fox in this area. It is devastating to find one after another missing. I hope you catch your predator......

 

[ilovesilkies]

i am so sorry for everyones lose..I too have lost alot of ducks and geese they would just be gone nothing left i traped a racoon and thought he was the culpret but 3 days later another was gone. When we were fixing fence this weekend we found some feathers were it was eaten across the fence on our neighbors.My hubby said he figured it to be a coyote. It was real close to the pond. I am just devastaded it does make you sick and helpless

we to have goats and turkeys and geese,ducks. My favorite duck with a top knot was taken last night it just makes me so mad i love wildlifde too but when they take my buddies it upsets me. So i think im going to do what the other lady did get a pyrenese dog i hear they are real good at protecting everything. also i think im going to pen them up everynight up close to my house so they will be safe. Let them out every mornin. We to have hawks and owls but im not sure that they were getting any. once they get started they will keep coming back every 2-3 days. GOOD LUCK everybody!!

 

[feathersandfluff]

I think that is the only answer is to pen them up at night. I have several of the dog kennels that we keep some of them in now. Even the dog kenels have to be re-wired or a racoon can pull them thru the wire. I have a huge number of Sebastopols and a couple of buildings I can cram them into at night. If the electric fence doesn't stop the problem. The BYC person that said he uses a night camera to see what was killing his stock will get more info to us on purchasing the camera.
What are the signs when a fox has been the preditor? I suppose a fox carries its prey off but don't know that for sure.
By the way, the fenced pasture that my Sebs. were getting killed in, has a large pond I would think the geese would get on if they saw a preditor in the yard. They sure know enough to head for the pond when the see me coming with a camera.

 

[clhbubba]

I am sorry to hear so many others having the same problem. It hurts me to think of my poor Evie being eaten by something. Our animals are not for meat, they are our pets. We put a hot wire up this afternoon on the side of the fence the woods are on. Which is where the culprit is coming from. Hopefully it helps. I'm going to stay out there again tonight just to make sure. Keeping our fingers crossed. I wish you all luck detering the predators you are dealing with. I do not want to shoot whatever it is, just want it to find it's food elsewhere.....in the woods.

 

[mberry222]

I believe the cameras he was refering to are the wildlife cameras. You can find them in the hunting section WalMart or anywhere that carries hunting gear. The price range go from $50 up depending on features and pixels. I have lost several birds in the past when I would leave them in an open area. I now pen all of my birds up at dusk. I also have a pyr that stays with my goats that are close to the ducks/chickens/geese. She keeps everything way from dusk till dawn.